Senior Epidemiologist at Palladium International

Palladium is looking for qualified candidates to apply for a position of Senior Epidemiologist. Please find the following job description for the detailed role and responsibilities of the Senior Epidemiologist. Kenyan nationals are encouraged to apply.

Funded under the US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through a cooperative agreement with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the KeHMIS II Program supports the Kenya Ministry of Health and county governments to implement technological innovations in health information systems. These innovations include the development and scale up of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems for clinical decision support and improved patient care, the development of the Kenya National Data Warehouse (NDW), a centralized data repository of information from EMRs for analysis and reporting, the development of an Interoperability Layer (IL) to support the exchange of information across systems, and numerous other innovations including health informatics solutions to support surveillance, and mHealth solutions to support data collection at the facility level.

The Project Epidemiologist will technically lead the data and information generation and us e processes for the program. At the program level, s/he will be a critical part of the project team leading and managing complex program-level data use initiatives consisting of multiple agile teams and requiring interaction and collaboration with external stakeholders at various levels, including at national and county levels.

The main Duties and Responsibilities include:

• Coordinate activities related to public health evaluation. S/he will maintain current evaluation activities while at the same time setting up new evaluation activities to better evaluate the HIV/TB response in Kenya using existing data from individual data systems. S/he will provide direct guidance and technical assistance to Implementing Partners (IPs) and United States Government (USG) staff affiliated with evaluation activities in activities related to the KEHMIS project. Will coordinate the development of required umbrella protocols for KEHMIS project as well as provide feedback to all implementing partners with individual data systems on appropriate collection of high-quality data towards monitoring the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
• Responsible for the development and implementation of public health research studies. Responsibilities will include conceptualization of study, protocol development, solicitation of funding, workplan development, oversight of activities, ensuring protocol adherence and scientific standards are maintained, maintain data quality, and publication of study findings. Ensure data collection and management is timely, accurate and complete.
• Analyze data from existing electronic platforms and will produce abstracts, manuscripts, presentations, etc. to be presented at conferences or submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals.
• Provide Technical Assistance (TA) to inform automation of information products from individual level data systems towards epidemiologically sound outputs. The TA will cover the entire continuum of individual level data management: collection, transmission, collation, analysis and interpretation.
• Work with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other partners on deeper interrogation, analysis and triangulation of existing evaluation, research and program data (electronic or otherwise) to better inform disease control efforts.
• Assessment, supervision, activity participation, and conference attendance as necessary and represent the project at national and international conferences and meetings.
• S/he will produce training material for public health evaluation and operational research and facilitate stakeholder training.

Qualifications Required:

• Medical related Degree (Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy) is required. A Master’s or a higher degree in Public Health, Epidemiology, Field Epidemiology, Social Sciences or related field is also required.
• At least 5 years progressive public health experience and/or research experience within the HIV/TB program.

Other Requirements:

• Must have a high level of detailed understanding of the structure and functions of Kenya’s HIV epidemic response.
• Must have technical knowledge of epidemiology, statistical analysis and public health relevant to the HIV and TB epidemic.
• Must have published widely with at least 3 first-author publications in reputable journals.
• Must have technical experience and knowledge in managing research/evaluation projects and resources.
• Must be able to mentor project teams and workgroups on program evaluation and manuscript and abstract writing.
• Must be able to devise innovative methods to manage both aggregate and individual level data to inform epidemic response.
• Must demonstrate experience in managing large datasets from program/survey/surveillance data.
• Must have training and experience with MS Office, and statistical analysis software such as SAS, STATA or SPSS and working knowledge of GIS software.

Other Key Information:

National and international travel will be required for assessment, supervision, activity participation, and conference attendance as necessary.
The role is highly deliverable-based and allows for flexible working hours under negotiated Level of Effort (LoE).